Lovecraftian horror
 

Since it's being talked about in connection with True Detective in another thread:

I think a lot of people like this type of cosmic horror stuff, things beyond anything us puny humans could ever comprehend.

What are good books and movies in this vein? What are your favourites?
(Apart from Lovecraft himself obviously. Duh.)

Sorry, Lovecraft: The Colour Out of Space.

I re-read it once every few years just to remind myself just how much most of the current batch of "horror" writers suck ass.

American Gods - Neil Gaiman.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gods

Those books are amazing. I still think of some of the stories in there 20 years later.

I haven't really found another author that really captures the essence of Lovecraft other than Clive Barker, M.R. James, Neil Gaiman, Thomas Ligotti, Robert W. Chambers, Edgar Allan Poe and Laird Barron. As for movies... that's a bit of a mixed bag. All of them have short stories collections which is probably the best way to go but here's my recommendations.

Clive Barker - Books of Blood Vol. 1 - 6

M.R. James - Collected Ghost Stories (he's more inspired by Victorian era ghost stories, but has a similar writing style)

Laird Barron - The Imago Sequence and Other Stories

Neil Gaiman - The Sandman (this one's a graphic novel, but very well done)

Thomas Ligotti - The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror (this is actually a work of non-fiction that was a major inspiration for Rust Chole's pessimistic world view in True Detective)

Robert W. Chambers - The King in Yellow (another piece of work that was very inspirational for True Detective. He was kind of in the same boat as Lovecraft, writing Weird fiction for magazines, although it's been said that Lovecraft didn't really care for him too much, even though his work influenced Lovecraft).

Poe - Pretty much anything, I'd recommend just getting a collection for your local book store for like $10


I don't think there's ever been a truly accurate adaptation of one of his stories outside of the 2005 black and white silent film The Call of Cthluhu. The 2001 Stuart Gordon movie Dagon is a good movie heavily inspired by The Shadow Over Innsmouth but does have some of the same problems his other modern Lovecraft movie, Re-Animator had where it couldn't decide on a tone. The 1995 John Carpenter film In the Mouth of Madness is pretty Lovecraftian as well, but like the others, doesn't really commit to just one tone and is kind of tongue-in-cheek. Ironically, one of the films that best exemplifies Lovecraft is probably the 2007 film The Mist which easily has one of the most soul crushing endings, and the monsters seem to be very Lovecraft inspired, not that it's that surprising as Stephen King was hugely influenced by Lovecraft.

Video games have probably had the best success with that kind of thing, but I think that's also due to the fact that the medium is so well suited for horror. The 2005 game Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a technically an original work but contains elements of "Dagon" and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", including the hotel escape. The 2010 game Amnesia: The Dark Descent is very Lovecraft inspired as you're being haunted by an unknowable darkness accidentally unleashed on a trip to Africa. The 2001 Gamecube game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem also contains A LOT of Lovecraft references thoughout the course of the game.

The Colour Out Of Space is one of my favourites as well.
And American Gods sounds awesome, I'll check it out.

I read some Clive Barker as a teen, but not those books. Added to list.

Cool, apart from Poe (I've read pretty much everything by him) and Barker I've never even heard of those authors.
I've watched all those movies though, except for Dagon. Will have to catch up on that.
And I'm not much of a gamer, but those sound awesome. Perhaps it's time to become one.

Oh, and thanks for moving the thread.

http://www.lwcurrey.com/pictures/141855.jpg

The novel that Colin Wilson wrote is not in the gothic Lovecraft style, neither is it set in some murky American past, but it is a wonderful book in it's own right; Wilson's best novel imo, and a fascinating exploration of the possibilities of human consciousness. So, don't expect anything very Lovecraftian, read it with an open mind, and see if you don't agree with me - that Colin Wilson met the challenge and wrote something more exciting, more gripping than most of Lovecraft's stories.

You had me at "consciousness". Always interested in that,

^ haha! Well, among other things, the book describes a (fictitious) method of expanding consciousness, so is perhaps of interest to anyone curious about, for instance, mind-altering chemicals.

BTW, for some reason, I have the idea that you are German, grindy; do you read in English, or do you have another language that you are more comfortable with?

I'm actually Ukrainian, but I live in Germany.
My first language is Russian, my second language is German.
I'm equally fluent in both.
But I'm also perfectly comfortable with reading in English. I have probably read more books in English than in Russian and German in the last few years.

Oh and I've done my share of mind-altering substances, so it's always interesting to read something in that vein.

That's an impressive quantity of languages, grindy :bowdown:

Let me know if you buy or read The Philosopher's Stone. It is written in an easy-to-read style and I'd love to hear someone else's impression of it.

Thanks.

I hope I'll be able to convert the pdf I found to mobi, really prefer reading on an e-reader to using the computer.
I'll let you know once I've finished reading it, might take some time though. First I'll have to finish the book I'm currently reading and since I'm in the process of completing my BA these days, time's a somewhat scarce resource.

Bump for this.

http://www.amazon.com/Hyperion-Canto...ds=dan+simmons

Regarded as Sci Fi but definitely little bits of shades of Lovecraft style horror IMO.

One of only two books I've read 3 times.

I've always wanted to read those.
If there's some lovecraftian stuff going on, that's even better.
Thanks for reminding me.

For anybody getting into Lovecraft where is the best place to start?

I'd say "Mountains Of Madness" is his best.
If you'd prefer something shorter, check out "The Colour Out Of Space" or "The Dunwich Horror".

Thanks have made a note of those, Dunwich Horror I know was an A.I.P produced horror film in the late 60s early 70s period, but one of their lesser known ones.

The Penguin Books publication of The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories has my favorite collection of his works and some very good explanatory notes from S. T. Joshi. It also starts you off easy with stories like "Dagon" and "The Statement of Randolph Carter" so you can adapt to Lovecraft's syntax and diction, which is probably the biggest barrier to entry. It also has stores like the titular "Call of Cthulhu" and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" but also his less adapted stories like "The Rats In the Wall" and "The Picture In The House" (which probably has the most dialogue of any Lovecraft story).

The biggest story not already mentioned would have to be "The Haunter of the Dark". Relatively short, and it's probably the best introduction to his ideas of humankind's irrelevant place in the universe at large.

Hats off to Robert Bloch. And ya, another story set in ****ty New England.

I read the book now and enjoyed the hell out of it.
Thanks for the rec.
I love his somewhat scientific, logical approach and there are a lot of themes and topics there I'm generally very interested in.
And it's amazing how he takes the opposite route of Lovecraft, replacing obscurantism with analytical, systematic explanations and still manages to convey a lovecraftian sense of awe.
If you know other, similar books, I'd be happy to read them as well.

Ah, the Shrike! Love those books! Did you read "Carrion comfort"? Not Lovecraftian but I'm just tipping the thread slightly OT in case you've not read it. Amazing book.

Noted thanks.

I've read:

Carrion Comfort
Song of Kali
Phases of Gravity
The Hollow Man
Summer of Night
All 4 of the Hyperion books.

The Shrike might just be one of the best fictional characters ever.

http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/wp-...9/Hyperion.jpg

Started to read Barker's Books Of Blood.
The framing story was pretty lame, but hey, it's just a device.
Now reading "Midnight Meat Train". I've seen the movie, so I don't expect too many surprises, but it's a fun read so far.

..........................................Colin Wilson - The Philosopher´s Stone

Sorry, Grindy! I have only just come across your post. I´m really happy that you enjoyed the book. Welcome to the very small club of people who have followed up on my recommendation (the other members being my brother and my best friend).

Yes, as you say the book has a scientific, logical approach, but is none-the-less what is known as "a page-turner". Lots of interesting ideas, and the way it links in with Lovecraft is particularly satisfying, isn´t it?

Colin Wilson was a busy guy, and wrote eighty or ninety books, but this is easily his best novel. After being disappointed by a couple of his other novels, I moved over to his non-fiction stuff: his biog of Rasputín is good, also his philosophical books; The Outsider, The Age of Defeat, The Strength to Dream. Being philosophy, they aren´t to everybody´s taste of course. But one reviewer wrote of Colin Wilson, " He has a style that makes the pursuit of an intellectual idea as exciting as a detective story", and I think that stands as good description of his books in general.

100% in agreement. You can even smell stuff as you read this flawless story. Little by little, Lovecraft takes you to the top. You feel it's not a story what you're devouring, but some real report by real people. Lovecraft was beyond amazing. I've read all his oeuvre and I think he surpassed Poe. My 2nd favourite is "The Whisperer in Darkness".
Now I've been hooked on A. Blackwood. First-class author as well.

And now I missed your answer for quite some time...
I seldom read non-fiction, but I'll give it a try.
Colin Wilson strikes me as a pretty intelligent guy and there are a handful of purely philosophical books I really enjoy.

I really enjoyed Ligotti's first two short store collections, Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe, but Conspiracy was a bit of a letdown. Reads a bit like the most erudite and articulate incel manifesto ever written.

Also, does anyone know who's the singer in LoathsomePete's av?

Huge fan of H.P.Lovecraft.

Did you guys know about this :

https://youtu.be/v9leebxdCZ0